It is impossible not to make a mistake at some points in your life. We may as well accept that something will go wrong and we will be to blame. It is therefore sensible to work out some strategies for apologizing, and the best way to apologize is by letter. This way you can take care over every work you write— which you can’t do if you say sorry to someone in person.

We all say or do something that we wish we hadn’t said or done. You may say something that accidentally hurts someone, or you may provide a service which doesn’t come up to the standards that a client or customer expected.

You may feel that it was a genuine mistake which couldn’t be avoided. Rather than dwell on the mistake, you should quickly try to remedy（修补）the problem. An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process.

For the contents of the letter, just remember TABS—Timing, Action, Brevity, Sincerity.

The timing of a letter of apology is essential—it must be sent as soon as possible. Any delay in our sending the letter will only compound the problem. In this case “Better late than never” is not the best motto! The longer you wait before you wait before writing a letter of apology, the more it will seem that you have been coerced（被迫）into writing it.

Although it is important to recognize what has gone before, it is also essential to detail the action you plan to take to rectify whatever it was you did wrong. Research has shown that some indication that you have thought about what future action you plan to take is always well received.

A letter of apology should be brief and the word “sorry” should appear no more than twice. Indicate that you are aware using it a second time—“once again, I am so sorry for…” or “as I said earlier, I am really sorry about…”. Finally, the tone of the letter has to be sincere. In fact, the combination of all the above factors will help in this respect.

And don’t think that letters are out of date in the email—oriented 21st century. An apology email can be worse than no apology at all!

What kind of advice does the text suggest about apologizing?

A. It’s a good idea to write a letter of apology as soon as something has gone wrong.     

B. It’s a good idea to send several emails to apologize.

C. Write a long letter apologizing several times to make your point. 

D. Wait to see how they react to your letter before planning to do anything.

What kind of things do you NOT apologize for?

A. A service that is not as good as it should be.

B. Genuine mistakes.

C. Car accidents.

D. Causing offence or hurt.

The underlined expression “Rather than dwell on the mistake” in the third paragraph means you _____.

A. should not waste time worrying about what happened.  

B. should consider the problem

C. should forget about what happened.

D. should analyse who was at fault.

How can timing compound problems?

A. If you write immediately, they will be suspicious. 

B. If you leave it for a few days, they will know it is your idea to write.

C. Waiting for a few days before you write will show your sincerity.       

D. Waiting too long will make it worse because they won’t believe you mean it.

When we look at the sky and see a bright light moving quickly across it or coming towards the earth, we talk about seeing a “shooting star” or a “falling star”. These moving lights are not, in fact, stars at all. They are small pieces of matter from outer space, which burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The correct name of them is meteoroids. Any pieces that make it to the Earth’s surface without completely burning up are known as meteorites. A meteor is actually the name given to the light we see when a meteoroid is burning up.
When a meteorite hits the Earth at speeds between 11 and 72 kilometers a second, it can do amazing damage. A very large meteorite could knock the earth out of its orbit. If this happened, all life on Earth would probably become extinct（灭绝）. The path we follow around the Sun would change and as a result the Earth would become either much hotter or much colder. This change in temperature would affect sea levels and the amount of water in rivers. There would either be huge floods, which would cover most of the land with water, or the oceans would dry up and there would be a drought, which means a long period of time without rain. Either way, nothing could survive. If a large meteorite landed in the sea it would almost certainly cause tsunamis, which would race towards the land, destroying everything in their paths.
Although it is unlikely the Earth will be struck by a meteorite large enough to do that kind of damage, there is evidence of fairly large meteorites hitting the Earth in the past. In 1908 a large area of forest in Tunguska, Siberia was destroyed by a meteorite that came apart just before it hit the ground. The moon, however, has about three billion craters陨石坑caused by meteorites impacting影响 its surface. The reason more meteorites have reached the surface of the moon than the surface of the Earth is that the moon does not have enough atmosphere for the meteorites to burn up in. some of the meteorites that have reached the Earth’s surface have done considerable damage. Some scientists believe it was a change of climate caused by meteorites hitting the Earth that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs and other large prehistoric animals.
Scientists are especially interested in meteorites because they contain information about the solar system. It is widely believed by scientists that most meteorites are produced by collisions（碰撞） between asteroids (small planets). These collisions probably happened many billions of years ago. This means the physical and chemical structure of a meteorite can give scientists information about the early days of the universe.
【小题1】The story is about ___.     

A．floods caused by meteors

B．matter from outer space

C．life on Earth millions of years ago

D．meteorites that have damaged the moon

【小题2】The Earth has ___.                    

A．three billion craters

B．fewer craters than the moon

C．more craters than the moon

D．a thinner atmosphere than the moon

【小题3】Some scientists believe the dinosaurs became extinct because ___.     

A．they were hit by meteors

B．meteorites landed on their nests

C．meteorites landed and changed the climate

D．they could no longer breathe the atmosphere

【小题4】Meteors are ___.                                         

A．small planets

B．the same as asteroids

C．from broken parts of asteroids

D．the light we see when meteoroids hit our atmosphere

If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012.
“It’s next ‘wow’ vehicle,” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. “Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car-plane has wings that unfold for flying-a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go. When you land, you hold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport-you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Thrrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界的) conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, , a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option.” Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.
【小题1】We can learn from the first two paragraphs that _________.

A．car-planes will be popular in 2012-4-6

B．people might drive a car-plane in 2012

C．both the Transition and Ferrari can take off and land

D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts

【小题2】It takes the car-plane one minute to _________.

A．fold and unfold its wings	B．unfold wings for flying
C．land in the airport	D．meet flying safety regulations

【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B. To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C. The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D. People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.

If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012．The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its carplane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012．
“ It's the next ’wow’ vehicle,” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh．“Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly．”
The car plane has wings that unfold for flying－a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving． A runway is still required to take off and land．
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is  both．The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National High way Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations．
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly．They say it saves you the trouble of trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go．When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road．There are no expensive parking fees because you don't have to store it at an air port-you park it in the garage at home．
The carplane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet．It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers．Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal（临界） conditions．
The Transition's price tag: $ 194,000．But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS．Another option is a fullplane parachute．
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,”Gersh said．
So far, the company has more than 70 0rders with deposits． “We're working very closely with them,
but there are still some remaining steps, ” Brown said．
【小题1】We can learn from the first paragraph that         ．

A．carplanes will be popular in 2012

B．people might drive a carplane in 2012

C．both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land

D．Richard Cersh is the vice president of Massachusetts

【小题2】It takes the carplane one minute to          ．

A．fold and- unfold its wings	B．unfold wings for flying
C．land in the airport	D．meet flying safety regulations

【小题3】According to the passage,  which of the following is NOT true?
A．The carplane needs a runway to take off and land．
B．To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA．
C．The carplane may fly as high as normal planes．
D．People can park the carplane in the garage at their home．
【小题4】The underlined word "it" in the last but one paragraph refers to          ．

A．the radio	B．the transponder
C．the GPS	D．the fullplane parachute

【小题5】What's the best title for the passage?

A．Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Comer

B．Which To Choose: A Ferrari Or A CarPlane?

C．A More Convenient And Cheaper Way To Fly

D．Cars With Wings Can Fly As Fast As Plane

阅读下列短文，根据所读内容在文章后的表格中填入恰当得单词。 注意：表格中每个空格中只填入一个单词。

A conflict at work is common. If you can avoid conflict, it means you will win what you want regardless of what the other person wants. Since the potential issue has not been removed, it will simply reappear later. Let’s see what you can do.

    ★Be aware of the fact that some conflicts are unavoidable at work. On numerous occasions, conflict and disagreement are likely to happen. But when a conflict happens it's not the end of the world. On the contrary, it can be the beginning of an interesting learning process. Conflicts mean that people care enough to disagree strongly. The trick is not to allow the conflict to go on forever.

    ★ Deal with conflicts sooner rather than later. Solve a conflict when it starts, as it only gets worse with time going by. Conflicts at work arise not from something that was said, but from something that wasn't said! Everyone's waiting for the other to admit he's wrong and gets more unpleasant after the conflict has lasted a while. It's essential to interrupt the "waiting game" before it gets to that point.

    ★ Ask nicely. If somebody has done something that made you angry, or if you don't understand their viewpoint or actions, simply asking nicely about it can make a world of difference.  Never assume that people do what they do to annoy or hurt you. Sometimes there's a good reason why that person does what he or she does, and a potential conflict disappear right there. Do remember to make an inquiry, not an accusation of any sort.

    ★ Appreciate. Praise the other part in the conflict. Tell them why it's worth it to you to solve the conflict. This can be difficult as few people find it easy to praise and appreciate a person they disagree strongly with, but it's a great way to move forward.

 

Topic	How to1.______ conflicts at work
Reason	Conflicts won't 2.______ if not dealt with
3. _____ on handling conflicts	● Don't be afraid of conflicts which are usually 4._____. ● Interrupt the "waiting game",  try to admit your 5.______ actively and solve it soon or it will get 6.______ ● Don’t imagine people do something to make you 7.______ on purpose. Remember not to 8.______ others, but ask them nicely about what they do, which may make a difference. ● Try to appreciate the other part in the conflict although it is 9.______ to do so.
10.	If you learn to do with conflicts, you'll work in joy.